We all have them.

What are yours?

What do you dream about? What gets your heart racing in the morning? What lights your fire through out the day?

What are your demons? What do you fight and struggle with, within yourself? Things that most people don't know about that you struggle with daily. What makes life challenging for you?

Good writers channel both their dreams and their demons into their writing. Writing is an art, and artists channel their inner selves into their work. Those things we struggle with, we put into words and flesh them out into fictional or non-fictional characters to bring them to life on the page...or screen. We attribute our own characteristics and characteristics of people we know and people we meet into these two-dimensional beings to make them seem three-dimensional. We have to live in the character's world for a while, then add heart and soul to each two-dimensional figure head.

We do this so that...

As a reader, you become completely engulfed in this world that we've presented to you. The goal is that we've reached into you mind, into your heart, into your soul, and touched, fondled, even squeezed and yanked your personal dreams and demons and ripped them out of you and placed them on the page or screen in front of you. We've put them right in front of your eyes and make you stand up and take notice of them. We've brought them to life for you to the extent that you can't deny their existence...if even for a few hours.

And we do this....to please you, the reader.

Yes, we bring your demons and dreams to the forefront of your mind and our demons and dreams to them...to entertain you. To please you. To make you happy.

To give you a break from your own life. And to pull you into our life.

Just briefly.

Then we'll let the chain drop that we've yanked you out with and let you fall back to your comfort zone, putting all of your dreams and demons back in their safe place.

But just until you read our next book ;)
 
Yes, we all hate to be hit by problems. And yes, for some problems, that's understandable. Yet, there are some problems which help us.

Do you know that you can never know what you're true, deepest, most intense passion is unless you've first experienced a deep valley in your life?

So yes, unfortunately some problems are needed. Just try not to artificially create more problems for yourself than you really need, lol.

It is funny, though, the link between passions and problems.

When I was growing up, I always wondered how someone knew what they could be passionate about. I mean, I would go out late at night and throw a basketball at a hoop, outside in the dark, getting bit by those pesky mosquitoes. Did it make me passionate about basketball? Ha! No. Did it make me good at basketball? Ha! That would also be a no.

I used to kick a soccer ball around in a parking lot at a little place my parents lived. I'd kick it against the wall of the automobile shop in front of us. One day I kicked it right through their window. Yep, my parents had to pay for that. Did that make me passionate about soccer? No. It just cost us money to replace a window.

When I started my adult life, I actually started with near perfect credit. My dad worked out a deal with a local banker and got me a small loan. I had good habits, so I had good credit. The banker himself told me that, and told me to stay on that track. Well, did that make me passionate about loans? Hahaha...no. 

However, two ex's, seven kids, and several years of financial difficulty later, I have indeed found some things I'm very passionate about.

So while you're going through your valleys of despair (yes, I said valleyS), find your next passion. At least get SOMETHING good out of the deal ;)